Democratic Unionist leader the Reverend Ian Paisley will today made a direct appeal to his supporters to give his party their verdict on the St Andrews Agreement.
As the DUP continued to weigh up its response to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Prime Minister Tony Blair's package of proposals to restore power sharing in Northern Ireland by next March, the party has published a four-page paper on the St Andrews deal that was circulated in copies of today's Belfast Telegraph.
Reverend Ian Paisley
Mr Paisley argued in the document that unionists must weigh up the advances made during the three-day talks in Scotland against what would happen if they reject the deal by the deadline set by the two governments for next month.
"Study this short paper carefully and weigh up what we have achieved while bearing in mind what will happen if these changes are not made," Dr Paisley said in the document, in which he is pictured with a beaming smile.
He warned that rejecting this month's deal meant devolution was unlikely to return for years. Policy would continue to be set by a British government with little party representation in Northern Ireland and there would be a greater role for Dublin in Northern Irish affairs, he said.
However the party document insists that the DUP needs progress on a number of issues before devolution can be restored.
These include securing a mechanism in the Assembly to ensure parties who break their ministerial obligations are punished without the entire power sharing government being affected; progress on the issue of parades; arrangements to move away eventually from the mandatory four-party executive at Stormont; fairness and equality measures for unionists; and more details on a financial package to bolster a new power-sharing government.
The DUP is also seeking clarification on the impact of St Andrews agreement's pledge to introduce an Irish Language Act and remove barriers to employment for ex-paramilitary prisoners.
The party has engaged in a series of internal consultative meetings in east Belfast, south Antrim and north Antrim. There have been suggestions that Mr Paisley and the DUP leadership have been urging the grassroots to back the agreement. However reservations have been expressed by some members including the party's MEP Jim Allister.
It is anticipated today's DUP document will contrast the St Andrews Agreement with the Belfast Agreement, claiming it represents an advance for unionism.
Sinn Féin has also embarked on an internal consultation headed by the party's share person Mary Lou McDonald, MP Conor Murphy and TD Martin Ferris.
Agencies